Research/Planning - Target Audience

What is a Target Audience?
Target audiences are essential to determine a films overall success. Film makers, producers and distributors must be aware of their films target audience in order to make content suitable for potential consumers, as well as to know how to successfully market their product.
There are two different forms of target audience;
Primary target Audience: primary target audiences are typically identified through demographic variables such as age, race and gender.
Secondary Target Audience: a secondary target audience is often defined as film makers creating their products based on groups that are not defined demographically.

Horror Thriller Film Target Audiences
Horror films are typically aimed towards both males and females in the 15 to 25 years age group. Films of this genre are generally targeted towards younger audiences because they are most interested in the thrill from an adrenaline rush caused by fear created when viewing the product. The horror/thriller genre appeals to both genders because film makers focus on allowing their audience to explore and and experiment with fears and emotions, rather than focusing on conforming to gender preference stereotypes. Although males are more likely to enjoy the gory and violent aspects of the film, women will often be more entertained by suspenseful scenes. Therefore horror films are not usually targeted towards a specific gender.

Most existing horror/thriller films are given negative reviews by older audiences, but are reviewed positively by teenagers. This is due to film makers focusing more on creating footage which will appeal to teenagers and young adults, usually using a younger cast to play character roles. However, older generations

British Board of Film Classification
Although film makers may create their films with one specific target audience age group in mind, the British Board of Film Classification may rate their films differently according to specific guidelines. Due to horror thriller films being generally aimed towards the 15 to 25 years age group, the two standard BBFC classifications for most horror films are 15 and 18.
This allows film makers to include scenes containing strong language and violence, as well as scenes of strong threat and horror. Depending on the classification

Chosen Target Audience for my Film Trailer
I have decided to conform to having a target audience found in real products of this genre and will consequently create my film trailer for a male and female target audience of ages between 15 to 25. Therefore, the film age classification that I aim to base my trailer on will be the BBFC's 15 rating.